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EF0 tornado in Ellis County, Oklahoma

Tornado May 18, 2025 · Ellis County, Oklahoma

EF0
Rating
1.7 mi
Whole path
75 yd
Path width
$35K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Hemphill County, Texas → Ellis County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This tornado moved into Ellis County from Hemphill County TX crossing the state line just south of Texas Farm-to-Market Road 2758 and Oklahoma County Road E0690. A storm survey by the NWS Office in Amarillo observed tree damage along E0690 Road just east of the Texas state line, and along County Road N1690 south of E0680 Road. The tornado dissipated very closer to E0680 Road about 250 yards west of N1690 Road.

Geolocation of drone footage of the tornado from the OTUS (Observations of Tornadoes by UAV Systems) Research team showed that while the tornado moved generally northeast, numerous variations in the motion occurred.

This tornado was rated EF1 based on damage in Hemphill County TX, but only EF0 damage could be confirmed in Oklahoma.

The wider storm

A deep upper-level trough continued to progress eastward across the Central and Southern Plains on the 18th, promoting another round of intense severe weather across the northwestern portion of the WFO Norman Forecast Area. During the early evening, a strong dryline served as the focus for thunderstorm initiation across the aforementioned area. A pair of intense supercell thunderstorms developed here, each producing large to very large hail, with multiple reports of hailstones ranging from four to five inches in diameter. In addition to very large hail, one of the supercells generated a tornado family consisting of four separate tornadoes across Ellis County. Among these was an intense EF3 tornado that impacted areas just southwest of Arnett, OK, causing significant damage along its path.

Began near Arnett (36.0130, -100.0000).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

2 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1262090. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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